The death toll in Hopkins County from the weekend’s tornado has risen to 17 with four new deaths confirmed on Monday.
Governor Andy Beshear said 81 of the 109 people that remain unaccounted for in the state are from Hopkins County.
The statewide death county is 74, which makes it the deadliest tornado in Kentucky history surpassing the 1974 outbreak near Louisville and two other states.
One of the reported dead is Dawson Springs Independent School Board member Jenny Bruce, who worked in the school for over four decades before being elected. The Kentucky School Board Association confirmed her death Monday.
President Joe Biden will visit Dawson Springs Wednesday to tour the damage. He will also visit Mayfield and make a stop at Fort Campbell.
Beshear said Fort Campbell has played a vital role in staging emergency operations.
click to download audioMeanwhile, Kentucky Emergency Management Director Michael Dossett said over 26,000 Kentuckians remain without power with over 6,000 of those in Hopkins County.
click to download audioThe Tennessee Valley Authority said power has been restored to more than half of those affected. Assessment teams said the weekend’s storm damage was the most in the region in a decade. At least 100 transmission towers and poles were damaged or destroyed and 29 TVA transmission lines were knocked out of service. Nine TVA transmission lines that directly supply electricity to local power companies remain out of service and are the primary focus of TVA’s current restoration efforts.
Elsewhere, Dossett said two water districts in Hopkins County are close to being back on line.
click to download audioBeshear said there is room for people to stay at western Kentucky’s state parks except for Pennyrile Forest State Park near Dawson Springs which is full.
click to download audioThe governor said he was able to make contact with a cousin the day after the tornado struck Dawson Springs.
click to download audioBeshear said he will be visiting Muhlenberg County Wednesday where at least 11 people died in Breman, a community of 170 people.
Officials in Hopkins County say they are overwhelmed with material donations, including non-perishable items at all drop-off locations. Instead, they are suggesting a contribution to the American Red Cross and/or the Governor’s Tornado Relief Fund.
